Salmon Fishing

When Ryan gets to go fishing he becomes as excited as I imagine he was a small boy on Christmas. When we were camping, as soon as the sun was up enough to see, he was sitting up and putting on all the available clothing layers to get out of the tent and to the lake. Whenever we arrive at a river or lake, he starts physically shaking in his excitement and hurry. Everything else has left his mind in the immediacy of the moment. I’ve learned to simply follow with my book and camera and sit and wait an hour or two until he’s ready to talk while he casts.

I love this hobby of his, since it feeds our wild salmon addiction for much cheaper than Costco or Trader Joe’s does.  But I must confess I have a hard time being interested in participating. (All his other hobbies I enjoy with him, only exceptions are fishing and watching televised golf) Perhaps one day when he teaches me to fly fish…

He had the opportunity to go salmon and crab fishing on a boat with some friends a couple weeks ago.  The invitation involved ten hours on a boat with crab pots and several big fishing poles, so it was essentially heaven on earth.

Thanks, Stefan, for the photo!

He brought home a nice big salmon, and between them they had four Dungeness Crabs. (caught 34 in the pots, but 30 were female and had to be released.) We feasted on the fresh crab with our friends that evening. Two nights later Ryan grilled some of the salmon for me for dinner. Crusted in salt and pepper with a little olive oil, it was delicious.

That expedition just whetted his appetite. This last weekend we went fishing twice. We drive up to the Snohomish River, about forty minutes from our house. You can slide down the muddy river bank and sit beside the river and fish. Ryan fishes for as long as he can, and I sit nearby curled up in a quilt with a book. (Until is starts raining, then I retreat to the car.)

As the salmon are all heading up river to spawn, the water was teeming with them. Multiple fish were jumping in front of us at the same moment. He caught a nice pink salmon last weekend, and a couple Cohos this weekend.  I can’t wait to pull those out for dinner this winter.